WIBU to report them?

[WaffilyVersatile]

In Tesco earlier and went down an aisle to grab some washing up liquid. I was trying to navigate the wobbily wheel trolley with my nephews aged 3 and 8 weeks in the seats. It was just me in the aisle apart from 5 members of staff stood in a circle taking up most of the space. I said excuse me but was ignored in favour of the loud conversation they were having about how they thought it was a joke that half of the customers they get now aren't English and how it was disgusting that you couldn't understand most of what they say.. all of them were joining in with this. I said excuse me again (louder) and they did move but kept having this conversation at the same volume and with the same sort of language.

I thought it was inappropriate and offensive and went straight to the customer services desk and made a complaint. WIBU (as my friend said) to have reported them rather than speaking up to the staff members themselves?? I don't believe I was and I hate the casual racism I seem to encounter a lot where I live (large city which has always been multicultural) so I thought better to make a formal complaint.

Personally I would have addressed the group.

You did the right thing.

If you'd addressed the group you may have just got a mouthful of abuse.

Absolutely YANBU, making a formal complaint was the correct thing to do IMO. I wouldn't have confronted the staff members either.

I've been known to berate staff standing around talking to each other when there are customers waiting to be served . However this was different - you weren't asking them to do their jobs properly (although it wouldn't imo have been unreasonable if you had done). If they were expressing inappropriate views about their customers (whether that was racist or rude/unacceptable in some other way), they should be called on it. You did exactly the right thing.

I have reported a member of staff who was very racist to a customer

I think I'd have said something to them along the lines of "You understand that customers can hear everything you are saying?", and then taken it from there.

Hard if there were lots of them though

YWNBU to report them

While it is inappropriate to have that sort of discussion where customers can overhear, it must be frustrating for customers and staff alike when there is a language barrier preventing them giving/receiving good customer service

Report the lot of them. There will be cctv so if you tell them which aisle and the time they will be able to pin point who it was and discipline them.

Their views are vile and people like that don't deserve to have jobs when there are decent people who would love a job.

Frustrating, lackingenergy?

Op says they said it was "disgusting". It sounds like way more than a mild expression of frustration at not being able to provide the excellent customer service they wish they were able to provide.

Very unprofessional behaviour in terms of the huddle as well as the content of their discussion.

They will be more careful where they chat now.

I would have spoken to the manager instead of Customer Services.

Those customers that they are talking about, are the very same people that pay their wages.

what longdistance said.

they can vent all they like in the staff canteen, at home to their DPs or on anonymous internet forums, but its plain stupid to stand in your workplace slagging off the customers, even when this is justified because they are a PITA (which does not sound like the case here). you would not expect to hear teachers in the playground slagging off parents, or doctors in the surgery publicly slagging off patients.
when I worked for Tesco in my student days we would have regular "mystery shoppers" ie spies checking on our customer service/interactions with customers.